Pokémon Academy: Ch 2a: Dragons [IC]

[TurboAura]

Seeing as the Skarmory tried explaining that Evan was her trainer, Voltage and Kiai calmed down, but we're still ready if something did happen. Turning his attention fully towards the Skarmory, Robert let out a simple sigh in relief. "Well, from what the Skarmory's signaling, I'd guess that it either IS or wants to be Evan's pokemon. Either way, I don't think it's going to attack, since it seems peaceful even after we sent our own Pokemon out to guard against it."

[Aurorix]

"If they think they are pushed too much, I'm sure they will tell you immediately."

'Now don't I feel dumb.' He thought to himself, 'She's right my pokemon aren't stupid, if I'm pushing them too hard then they'd tell me right' He thought trying to reassure himself.

"And if you can't go hard on them, don't worry about it~ I wouldn't mind if you go hard on me~"

Slade's face immediately blushed after Danielle's comment, "Danielle, how can you think those impure thoughts!" Slade said while slowly inching away from Danielle, "To even think of doing that, we haven't even gone through the first semester!" Suddenly Sasuke, appeared besides Slade and started elbowing Slade while winking and sneering, "Dier, dier~" Slade's face turned from a light pink to a brighter pink, "Sasuke, not you too!" Slade's mouth was gaping over in surprise of the situation, he started to look around to find away to get out of this situation. "H-hey look, we're gonna get left behind if we don't hurry up!" He reached for Sasuke's ball. "Come on Sasuke return," He said as he put him back in ball, "Well, we have to catch up so, uh..." After that he started to speed walk away all flustered.

Edited December 9, 2014 by EXLink32

[DarkLight]

Danielle smirked all the while as Slade was driving away those naughty thoughts from his mind. As he recalled Sasuke back into his capsule and sped off, Danielle ran to catch up to him. She wrapped an arm around her boyfriend and poked him with her free hand. "Awww, you're so cute when you're blushing~" she giggled before she nuzzled him. "And you can't blame me for that. You just made it too easy for me~ Aaandd I could say something else but... I'll leave it to your imagination~" Danielle chuckled and nuzzled him once more.

Corona, still confused over the sudden event, was about to chirp to ask why Slade was as red as her horns when her mouth was suddenly covered by Zared. The poor Mawile held onto the struggling Larvesta until Avis flew down and uttered a few cries to calm her down. Zared gave a grateful nod to Avis as Corona settled down after a few words. Avis reciprocated the nod as Zared let the Larvesta out of his clutches. Corona gave a quizzical look towards them both, still wondering what happened. Avis gave a pat and said a few words to her before she ushered them forward. Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

[Aurorix]

"Made it easy for you?!" Slade said angrily, "I was in the depths of despair and asked you one question, then I walk into this mess!" He then walked faster dragging Danielle along with him. He was very angry now, though which is better, sadness or anger?

[Commander]

After a little while, Henry was freed from his imprisonment which they called the hospital. Just as he said, they gave him an all clear and he hadn't even broken a bone in his body. The blood he coughed was due to a rib problem which he was still recovering from a while back. There was a bit of bad news for the trainer though. When he slid, his injured leg skidded on the ground causing a bit of tissue damage. They patched the leg up with all the tools they could, but they could only examine it so well being away from the hospital. Without the right equipment, they couldn't be exactly sure if he would recover from it, but he would be able to walk on it still. The suggested he should visit the real hospital, but he decline. He already accepted he might not be able to run again.

The thought was still on his mind when he noticed his Pokemon approaching him. His Venonat was holding another stick in his hand similar to the one he had earlier. While he was in the hospital area, they had secretly been working on this little project under Gypsy's instructions. He smiled and accepted their gift using this one instead of the black one given to him by the hospital. Still, he didn't have it in him to tell his Pokemon what they said, especially to Zuko so he simply told them that everything would be alright.

There was one thing the doctors suggested before leaving. He should get some rest and it was advised not to be out walking. He didn't care how much it hurt or sentenced to be forever like this, he just wanted out of there and to move again. He journeyed back to where the other students were still unsure what happened to Raiza.

((I'm not super technical on hospital stuff which is why this is somewhat passive. Zeph you can say Henry misjudged his condition if you want your PC to hear about his situation. If not, you can say she left before hearing any of it.))

[Zephyrus the Priestess]

During the ride back to camp, Raiza was quiet, disturbed by Ryan's reaction. Professor Cadmus himself said that the buildings didn't look like the ones of the Academy, but how sure was he that it wasn't where the vision would take place? Drawing people and Pokemon, that was her specialty, not buildings; she'd also only drawn whatever Kage had described.

Upon arrival, she'd settled with waiting outside the mini-hospital set-up, after the medical authorities told Henry to lay down and recover. The girl was quiet and pensive the whole time; this wasn't new to Lucifer. What was new was the melancholic feel he got from his Trainer. "Wick?" He nudged Raiza. Sighing, she pulled the Ghost-Fire type over and hugged him. She stayed that way for a while, not noticing when Henry came out.

[Chim]

Group Devin (Murdoc, Tacos, ExLink, DarkLight) -> At the camp

Right before they reached the camp a Dragonite flew over to Devin. “What news?” the Elite Four member asked concerned. “Did you find him?”

Dragonite nodded but made a sad face and handed a note to his trainer.

Devin recognized Alastair’s writing. “Found Evan. Head wound. Unconscious. No sign of Rockets.” The message was hastily written but clear enough. It wasn’t the most ideal outcome but at least they managed to find Evan Reeves. For Devin that was the most important part and he finally felt a little relieved when the group entered the camp. Without saying another word he joined Phoebe and Roman and started to whisper to them.

Stratos, K_H, Azery -> Out in the field with Tyron

Before Lana could thank Mareek he ran off after seeing Doux. She hurried alongside Tyron over when he signaled for them. The P.E. teacher carefully looked around. “I think we’re too late but I’m going to investigate just in case. All of you follow that Cottonee and meet up with the others.”

Lana obeyed and grabbed Mareek’s arm. She gave the boy a warm smile. “I haven’t had the chance to thank you yet for waking me up.”

In the distance they could see the other search party.

Jory, TurboAura, Elf -> Out in the field with Alastair

“Team Rocket is nowhere to be seen. It’s safe to assume they fled and left Evan behind. I don’t know what that means but I’m relieved we got him back. Now we need to figu-” Alastair was interrupted by Doux floating over. The Cottonee was followed by a group of familiar looking faces.

Edited December 9, 2014 by Chimchain

[Felicity]

"hey guys" Claude greeted, then gestured towards Evan. "We found Mr man, and his new friend" Claude wasn't bothered by the skarmory, it didn't seem hostile.

[DarkLight]

Danielle cringed as Slade berated her for this "mess." A mixture of pain and anger bubbled up inside of her. What did she do that was wrong? She only wanted to make him happy... Blinking back her tears, she slid her arm off of the red-clothed teen and stood in his path. "I-I was only trying to make you laugh! It's b-better than to see you feeling sorry for yourself! You didn't have to yell at me if you didn't like it!"

She then stomped off towards their intended destination, leaving Slade in her wake. Her three worried Pokemon quickly followed behind her to try and console her. Avis even brought the news of Evan's discovery up to try and cheer her master up. Danielle wiped away a few tears and nodded towards her bird. 'At least Evan was okay... That's good news...'

[Azeria]

"Huh,but why's there a skarmory in this area...i don't think it's natural habitat is anywhere near as varied as this mountain"James said as he eyed the Skarmory.It didnt SEEM dangerous but he knew how dangerous steel types are from past experiences."By the way,where did you guys find Evan?"James asked Claude as he threw his pokeball up and down.

[Jory]

Jacob brushed sweat away from his eyebrow as he looked over the bindings he'd put on Evan. It's a good thing I've had to do this for myself, or Evan might've been in serious trouble, he thought to himself as he watched the other group approach. Hopefully they brought some more help than just people. We need an ambulance.

[Sutoratosu]

"Hey, don't mention it," Mareek returned a smile just as warm to the girl. "Afterall, friends watch out for each other, right? And I don't take very kindly when mine get messed with, never have and never will."

Erce meanwhile, watched from the air curiously. How interesting; this girl, Lana... she seemed to be the only one who Mareek had talked to over the weeks whom he really opened up to of his own accord. It was strange, but whenever the two got to interacting, she noticed a change in him, like he brightened or something... In fact, if she didn't know any better...

The mantis made sure to take a mental note of Lana in her mind. Maybe the girl could prove useful, if her growing concerns about the boy beginning to relapse were right. Useful indeed, this little way of sunshine could be...

Java meanwhile, simply rolled his eyes in impatience and tried to float down to his Trainer, to urge the boy to stop this and get back in focus; the other two had left them behind. Erce stopped him though, halted him with the gesture of holding one of her Scythes out right in the path of his hovering. Her eye's said it all to the Porygon as she glanced at it and shook her head "Don't interrupt any of this". It took a few moments. The two seemed to be locked into a Staring match. Then Erce's Scythe began to take on a bright green glow... and Java, not being an idiot, got the intended message immediately. While he could blow her out of the sky with Discharge... the damn mantis could move a lot faster than him. He probably wouldn't win a head-on battle against her without sustaining heavy injury in the process. And to top it off, then he'd probably get reprimanded by Mareek for starting a fight with a team mate, and a reprimand would honestly hurt his mission to earn the respect he felt was due to him... so just like that, he backed down. resigning to simply wait along with Erce in the air...

[Felicity]

"Just over there" Claude gestured to where Evan was lying. "He was beaten up pretty bad, but luckily Jacob here knows some first aid. You do know that stuff, right? I couldn't tell the difference between bumbling about and professional care myself." Claude said to Jacob.

[Chim]

Everyone in the field

Tyron joined the group and went over to Alastair. “They’re gone,” he said, “how’s Evan?”

“He’s still out of it. I haven’t moved him yet.”

Tyron looked over to the boulder and released his Aggron. He instructed the steel type to pick up the student carefully and carry him to the camp. On the way back they didn’t run into any problems and on arrival medics immediately ran over with a stretcher. Evan was put on it and brought under into a tent. Alastair and Tyron thanked the students for their help and quickly made their way to Devin and the other teachers.

Ever since they left the Skarmory had been flying above their heads. The steel bird came back down and landed in front of the medic tent and looked like she was standing guard.

((Everyone is now in the camp. I’ll give you some time to interact))

[Jory]

Immediately after getting back to the camp, Jacob headed over to the boys' cottage and retrieved a new shirt. All that talk about not wanting any goo on that one and I went and ripped it up for bandages. I guess that's a better use for it than I would have gotten out of it, he thought to himself, mourning the loss of yet another shirt. He put on a green crew-neck t-shirt and walked outside, calling Arete out of her ball. Strange how I just caught her the other day yet I feel so close to her. I guess that's just what Togepi does, he figured. He began milling about the camp, not really sure what to do when he saw Danielle red-eyed and looking upset. That's no good. He approached his friend and cleared his throat, trying to get her attention. "Hey, is something wrong?"

[Commander]

Henry watched as all the students came back. He was a bit relieved they found Evan, but he could tell they didn't find anything on this "Team Rocket." He wasn't surprised, but he still wondered what happened to Evan. Henry had his own suspicions that the water stone may be connected to this group, but they also attacked him. He'd have to think over that contradiction later because he noticed something he'd never expected.

Danielle stormed off from Slade, or that's what it looked like. Those two were having a blast last time he saw them. He'd never expect something like this so soon. "Hmm...I am bored so I may as well mess with one of them..." Before Henry finished, a sudden thought came to his mind. If something bad were to happen between those two, Henry might have to face Danielle's dark side. The good side was already hard for him to handle so he could only imagine what her other side was like. Or worse...she might start talking to him more. "Zuko, get Slade over here. A terrible thought just came across my mind."

The Zuko was a bit puzzled by the tone of Henry's words, but followed them anyways. He ran over to the red haired boy signaling to him to head over to Henry.

[DarkLight]

Jacob's worried voice did catch Danielle's attention successfully. She stopped in front of him and wiped off some stray tears before she faked a smile to her other best friend. "Yeah, I-I'm fine. Just know that that guy over there doesn't like being consoled when he's upset." Danielle said, jerking her thumb towards Slade's direction. She would like to rant about it some more, but she also didn't want to burden him after today's events. Her situation is small-fry compared to the Donphan stampede and Evan's disappearance. So, instead, Danielle turned her attention to the bundle of joy known as Arete to calm herself down.

Her Pokemon also took the opportunity to play around with the Togepi, figuring that Danielle would appreciate some peace after that scuffle.

[Sutoratosu]

Mareek stared at the Skarmory blocking the tent entrance with more than a bit of suspicion. He had walked back with Lana and the group after they'd found Evan, though he'd lagged behind the entire time, trying to piece things together from what he had seen. Rockets had definitely been around the area where the guy was found. But there was one puzzle piece he couldn't place... the overgrown metal chicken was apparently Evan's, from what he had heard.

"Hey, Lana..." He began, turning to face the girl. "You know Evan, right, talked to him and all? Just out of curiosity, did you ever see a Skarmory on his team before?" He paused, considering what this all might mean, all the evidence. It was almost undeniable that whatever had gone down, he'd made contact at some point with the agents Slade had found, or at least someone probably with them, how else could it all be explained? "Actually, there's a few other things I'd also like to ask you about him. Um... if you don't mind, that is..."

[Chim]

Stratos

Lana was surprised when Mareek asked about Evan. “I know he has a Cleffa and an Eevee,” she said. “His Eevee often uses Rhy as a pillow. I’m sure he didn’t have a Skarmory before but he might have caught it during the trip.” She looked at the boy next to her with a confused expression on her face. She was curious about Mareek’s sudden interest in Evan but decided not to mention it. “I don’t know him all too well since he doesn’t open up to people, but I can try to answer your other questions.”

[Sutoratosu]

So he didn't, eh? I'll have to ask prof. Cadmus if Skarmories even live anywhere around here later... "Ok... just one more then," He stopped, recalling Tyron's orders from earlier about not telling any other students. That only applied for the search, right? considering the context that had come with it, Mareek thought it probably did, and Slade had probably already blabbed off to a lot of people about his encounter by now... "This is gonna sound like a weird question... but do you think he would join an organization like Team Rocket if he was approached? The only reason I ask is...well, Slade claims he was approached by them earlier today and that they tried to recruit him... and then when we were out searching for Evan, at the place where you were attacked by the powder storm from those grass types, Professor Silva and I spotted a piece of torn black cloth in one of the thorn bushes that looked it came from a uniform... and then the Tire Tracks that Doux was looking at when we spotted him... and then the Skarmory over there by the tent....Sorry, I'm probably just a little paranoid, but... "

He hoped that she would get where he was going with all this...

[Jory]

"I'm sorry to hear that, Danielle. If you need to talk about it you know I'm here for you." However, when Danielle's Pokemon came out Arete jumped out of Jacob's arms and hid behind him, poking her head out and watching them carefully. Hmm... I guess she doesn't like Pokemon as much as she likes people. That would explain why she's always clinging to me. The Togepi, true to form, was latched onto the back of her Trainer's leg. Jacob chuckled and pried the egg Pokemon loose, holding her in his arms. "Sorry, Danielle. She's really vocal around people, especially when I'm in control of the situation, but she's a little shy around other Pokemon. It took her a bit to warm up to everyone except Chalchi, but we all know that Lapras are smarter than some people anyway." Seeing how upset Danielle was, Jacob decided to try something.

He held Arete out, causing the little egg to squirm in an attempt to get closer to her Trainer. "Why don't you try holding her? For some reason I always feel calm and happy when she's out of her Ball, so I've been doing that a lot lately. It's really interesting how different Pokemon can affect the human psyche," he observed.

[Aurorix]

"I-I was only trying to make you laugh! It's b-better than to see you feeling sorry for yourself! You didn't have to yell at me if you didn't like it!"

Slade felt like a terrible hearing Danielle on the brink of tears, it crushed him inside to see her like that. One of the only true friends he ever had he had just verbally attacked. Suddenly memories from back in Celadon came back,

~~~~~

-Celedon City, 1 month before the start of school-

As Slade was returning home from his job at the pokemart he was walking down the street to the bus stop overhearing a couple of girls talking, "Hey, isn't that Slade?" The first one said who had long, blond hair, "Yea, Isn't he the one with the Growlithe?" The second one said, "I think so, it hasn't been confirmed though I wouldn't be caught dead talking to him." The two laughed at Slade thinking he couldn't hear them, but he was all too used to it. As the bus pulled up to his stop he got off and proceeded to head home. He could hear whispers and murmurs from kids around him and then, "Hey Firehead, please don't overheat and burn the whole city down!" One of the kid snickered at and rest rest of the kids tried to not laugh but some gave little giggles. He just continued on his way home trying to block out those who mock him.

As he arrived home his parents were waiting for him with a pokeball in their hands. They did not look happy in the slightest; their faces were so furious one little fly could snap them. "Slade, care to explain this?" His mother asked while holding the ball. That was Flare's ball, they must have found it. Slade just responded, "It's just a pokeball, why?" His dad then immediately said, "Don't fuck with us young man! The rumors were true and you know it, we found this in a little hole in your closet. So admit to us that you did have a Growlithe!" There was no point in denying it anymore so he just said, "Yea, they're true..." He said looking towards the ground. "I knew you had one the entire time! Why did you do it? Do you know how people will look at us now that we know you've had a Growlithe? We'll be the laughing stock of the whole town!" His father said ready to blow a a fuse any moment, "It's ok honey, he's gone now so just him the ball and end this." Salde's mother said taking the ball and putting it into Slade's hands. Though those words put him on edge, "Wait, what do you mean he's gone?" Slade asked looking up angrily, "Son put two and two together, we released him from the pokeball while you were at your job." His father said calming down a little. This put Slade in a total shock, hearing his father say that like he did him a favor disgusted him. Slade said nothing gripping onto his pokeball and heading upstairs to his room. He packed some of his most important stuff in a bag and waited for night to fall and at around midnight he made his way out of the house and out of the city. As he ran tears ran down his face like a streaming river. As he was out of the city and into forest he was able to reunite with Flare who happened to catch his scent and reunite back with him.

~~~~~

Slade wanted to say something, but he was too in shock of the memories pouring in he had tried so long to block out. Before he knew it Danielle was running away and him feeling worse then ever. He felt like he was just as bad, if not worse then his parents after those turn of events. His shock was only broken by a Vulpix who wanted Slade to go to Henry. He went over to Henry, silent with his face looking like it was shocked, and once Slade got there he could only mustard out a few words, "... Your Vullpix called me over here... is something you wanted?"

Edited December 10, 2014 by EXLink32

[Commander]

Henry shook his head seeing Slade like this. He never talk to the kid, but he always had the impression he was loud and carefree. "Where's that upbeat attitude of yours when you need it? Look, I know you're having a bad day, we all are, but could you at least act like that overly happy kid you usually are. I honestly don't care whatever is going on with you, as I'm pretty sure Danielle needs you now more than ever." Henry tried to hide it, but he surprised himself by what he was saying.

"I don't know what you two see in each other, but both of you are driving me up the wall. With her peppy attitude and you reckless battle style, it is just way too much for me. If something were to happen to you two, I pray that she goes to him instead of me." Henry pointed to Jacob who was talking to Danielle. "I'm already stressed out enough between keeping Zuko under control and the fake Rockets I can't take anything else...shit." Henry realized he just revealed a vital piece of information to the loudest kid in the school. He prayed the boy didn't question him about it, but he knew he likely would.

[DarkLight]

While everyone nodded understandably at Arete's nervousness around other Pokemon (and agreed that Lapras has a brain to match a human's), Avis could only stare at the egg with a look of disbelief. This was the second time that a Togepi has rejected her! What in the world did she even do to deserve this?! The one saving grace that saved Arete from Avis' death glare was that she didn't cry like Henry's did. With a heavy sigh, Avis joined her teammates and allowed Jacob and the Togepi to get through to Danielle.

Danielle hesitated as Jacob held out Arete for her to hold. She really didn't want to make another Togepi cry, especially since she seemed so attached to the boy in front of her. But Jacob's encouraging smile was impossible to turn down. Steeling herself for the worst, Danielle nodded and held out her arms and allowed Jacob to deposit the small Happiness Pokemon into her hands. The Togepi struggled a little before Danielle tickled Arete in the stomach. The fairy's subsequent laughter soon echoed the grounds and, without her realizing it, Danielle began to giggle and feel happier than she was a few moments ago.

Once Danielle was sure that she wouldn't burst into tears, she looked up at Jacob with a genuine smile. "You're right, Jacob. I'm starting to feel better just because of her laughter. Maybe it has to do with her being classified as the Happiness Pokemon. She certainly lives up to it, that's for sure~" With a content sigh, Danielle held Arete back out to her trainer. "Thanks for that. I'm fine now, really. I'm sure Arete prefers to be in your arms instead of mine." She paused for a moment to summarize her thoughts before finally giving a shrug. "You see, Slade was really upset that Team Rocket pointed out that he was being power-hungry. They even tried to recruit him because of it! Can you believe that? So, Slade was wondering whether or not he was being too hard on his Pokemon to make them think that way. After I gave him my thoughts, I attempted to make a joke to cheer him but he didn't take it well... Maybe I was too insensitive..."

[Aurorix]

Those last words caught Slade's attention, "Hold on wait," His face was out of the shocked face an into a concerned one and his voice was now not as shaky as before, "Fake Team Rockets? You mean there are posers acting like Team Rocket but aren't acutely Team Rocket?" Slade asked seeing now as he's now personally involved with Team Rocket now due to these past events.